The Italian Senate has approved the so-called Cutro migrant decree, with 92 votes from the majority. The decree will now pass to the Lower Chamber and it will be converted into law on May 9. The set of laws include a measure to further limit the number of special protection permits for migrants in Italy.
Numerous boats carrying migrants across the central Mediterranean have resumed operations after a period of harsh weather conditions. Easter weekend left at least 38 dead and 18 missing, while over 3,200 people were rescued and disembarked in Italy.
The migrants were trying to cross over to Italy from Tunisia when their boats sank. The Coast Guard said it rescued 53 people.
After a shipwreck off southern Italy in late February left 88 people dead, smugglers still asked survivors to pay for the trip, a witness told a preliminary investigations judge this week.
Lawyers representing the families of victims of the migrant boat shipwreck off Cutro have presented a brief to prosecutors in which they urge the state attorney office to look into specific facts regarding the deadly incident that took place off the coast of Calabria on February 26.
Siful survived a shipwreck off Libya in which 30 migrants died. The 33-year-old from Bangladesh told us his story.
Approximately 5,000 people marched in Steccato di Cutro in southern Italy on March 11 in a protest organized by the Asylum Network (Rete Asilo) titled "Stop the massacre immediately". Nearly 80 people lost their lives in a shipwreck off Cutro two weeks ago.
At least 30 people are missing and 17 were rescued after a boat with migrants capsized en route to Italy from Libya over the weekend, Italy's coast guard says. Separately, more than 1,300 migrants were brought ashore in Italy after multiple rescues.
Over 1,300 migrants arrived by boat at Lampedusa on Tuesday and Wednesday from Tunisia. In a press release, the Italian coast guard patted themselves on the back for saving 38 of them.
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi told parliament Tuesday that the deadly shipwreck off the southern coast of Italy was caused by smugglers steering the boat, not Italian authorities.
Victims continue to be recovered by search and rescue officials after the shipwreck off southeastern Italy in late February. More than 70 migrants and refugees have been confirmed dead -- including 19 children and nine teens -- and many remain missing.
A Meloni Council of Ministers meeting will be held in Cutro, the site of the deadly migrant shipwreck late last month, on Thursday (March 9).